Monday 11 September 2017 16:12, UK
Nick Pope says that he is ready to step up and replace Tom Heaton after the Burnley goalkeeper suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Heaton was replaced by Pope early in the first-half of Burnley's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace after landing awkwardly following a collision with team-mate Ben Mee.
Pope, whose appearance was his first in the Premier League, said: "As a goalkeeper you try to be as ready as you can. It's a rare occasion (that you come on as a substitute) but you get yourself warm and prepare for the possibility.
"As a player you want to play. When I came to Burnley I wanted to play games. That's what you dream about - you don't dream about sitting on the bench."
Pope praised the Burnley defenders for helping him to his clean sheet and talking him through his first outing in the top flight.
He said: "They were excellent in front of me. They talked to me and helped each other out. They were on it all day with blocks and tackles.
"The lads in front of them worked really hard as a unit as well. We work hard on our shape as a team, we were solid, there were last ditch tackles and blocks.
"It's probably the hardest thing to be a goalkeeper coming off the bench, so to come on, keep a clean sheet and get a win, we're over the moon with that."
Pope, 25, should expect to feature regularly before Christmas after Sean Dyche confirmed Heaton will be out for "more like months" than weeks.
Pope has only made six appearances for the Clarets since signing from Charlton in the summer of 2016 but appears to be Dyche's second-choice 'keeper over new signing Adam Legzdins.
